Talking to the Wall
by Helike
Summary: That's probably the strangest talk in the world - Sasuke answers the questions, but were these question really asked? Sasuke, Itachi, PG. Spoilers for the newest chapters.


That's my birthday present for you **Shaitanah**. I'm not able to write SasuNaru, so I hope you'll be satisfied with this story XD;

**Warnings:** Be sure that you really know what's going on in the manga recently. I think it should be safe to read it if you read everything up to chapter 403.  
**Summary:** That's probably the strangest talk in the world - Sasuke answers the questions, but were these question really asked? Author's notes are at the bottom.

Brought to you by a wonderful song: _How to Be Dead_ by Snow Patrol.

**I do not own Naruto**

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**TALKING TO THE WALL**

"And what do you think I should do now?" Sasuke asks and glances at Itachi, who's perched on the branch behind him. Itachi, obviously, doesn't answer and only stares at him in a way that is rather unnerving. After a short while the older Uchiha averts his look, no emotion visible on his face.

A resigned sigh escapes Sasuke when he sees such an answer – or rather lack of it. He's more than eager to roll his eyes in the reply, but the activity is so not Uchiha-like and so beneath his own dignity that he only shrugs instead.

He leans against the trunk and watches Itachi from the corner of his eye. His brother made himself as much comfortable as anyone could while sitting on the branch. Just like Sasuke he's leaning against the trunk, stretching out one of his legs. His other leg is bent slightly at the knee and he rests his hand on it. Itachi is wearing some casual clothes – a black shirt that any of the Uchiha could wear and some black pants. His hair is tied in a ponytail, like usual, but Itachi is not wearing his headband anymore. At first Sasuke wondered about the reason, but he's given up, deciding that maybe Itachi, despite still being somewhat loyal to the village, doesn't really feel bound to it in the way he used to be. Not that it would really matter, though.

What really matters is Itachi himself. In some way the man sitting on that other branch reminds him of Itachi that his brother used to be, but at the same time there is something completely different about him. Itachi is quiet and much more serious than he remembers and Sasuke hasn't seen him smile even once since they met again. His brother, however, might have a reason for this.

Sasuke glances at the black cloak lying next to him. For a short while his eyes move over the silky fabric until they stop on one of the red clouds "decorating" its surface.

He smiles grimly and closes his eyes, hanging his head. Isn't it ironic how they switched the roles? Now it's Sasuke that wears the cloak, in some way admitting his "membership" to the organization that Itachi used to belong to. It's not something that he takes great pride in, but he still puts this cloak on. Itachi, however, has never worn it since they both met after the fight. "Pretty meaningful," one could say.

"Well..." He gives Itachi a challenging look. "It's about _that_ place, isn't it?"

Itachi's eyes narrow – the only sign of anger that he must be feeling right now – and for a very short while they gleam with all these emotions hidden deep inside of his hearth. Yet it all disappears after a few seconds only, replaced by an accusing look on Itachi's face.

"Don't look at me in this way!" Sasuke snarls, feeling anger growing inside of him. "Don't tell me that you still care about them!"

Itachi says nothing, but continues to stare at him and Sasuke glares at him in the reply.

"Pretty fine with me," he finally declares. "My brother is an idiot who decided to sacrifice his life for people who couldn't care less about what he had done for them!"

Itachi doesn't comment, but fixes his eyes on Sasuke instead. These eyes seem to bore through him and his heart, finding and revealing all these things that Sasuke would prefer to be hidden and never shown to the world. Sasuke tries to "fight" back, obviously. Long seconds pass when the two just stare at each other, but in the end Sasuke loses this awkward "fight" and averts his eyes, because somehow he can't stand his own brother looking at him in this way and seeming to be so... disappointed.

"Don't blame me, okay? It's not that I had any other choice." He scowls at Itachi.

Itachi cocks his eyebrow in the reply and, for some reason that is completely unknown to him, Sasuke feels as if his motives are questioned.

Probably the worst part is that he does realize that Itachi is right in some way.

Sasuke is not that blinded by his revenge not to see that slowly he becomes everything that he hated about Itachi not so long time ago. Now it's not Itachi that is the criminal and the enemy of the whole world. Not anymore. Itachi is a hero who was ready to sacrifice everything – his good name and life included – in order to save what he cared about. Now it's Sasuke that thinks about destroying the village that made them both suffer so much and turns himself into a villain with his own hands.

This simple realization evokes some mixed feelings in his heart, but he decides to ignore them for the time being. Dealing with them is not easy, however. Sasuke scowls at Itachi again, blaming him for that uneasiness he's feeling, but then he hangs his head. "So okay... maybe I _did_ have some choice, but what I did can't be changed now."

For a short while he's almost sure that he heard a derisive snort coming from Itachi's direction, but he quickly rejects a possibility of such a thing happening – it's not something that Itachi would ever make. He darts Itachi a curious glance.

His brother is still sitting there, his serious face turned to him, and there is something about the way Itachi looks at him now, with his eyes fixed on him, that makes Sasuke _think_.

"Are you trying to suggest that there are things that still can be changed?" Sasuke's eyes narrow when he glares at Itachi. They gleam with crimson red when the Sharingan appears in them.

Itachi looks at him and his eyes seem to see through him, but his facial expression doesn't change.

Sasuke shudders. _That's right... It's never too late as long as you're still alive and breathes, so maybe there is something that could be changed._ The thought, however, does not bring any calmness; it brings anger instead.

"And how do you expect me to change anything? Especially now, after all what happened?" he yells at Itachi. "Besides, it's not that anybody actually cared about me. There is no one that cares..." He hangs his head.

It's then that he catches a glimpse of Itachi's face. His brother raises his eyebrows as if asking some question and a somewhat ironic look appears on his face.

It all makes Sasuke furious for some reason, because it's not that Itachi really knows about anything what happened to Sasuke after Itachi had left the village, but this fury quickly disappears, as it's never been justified to begin with. Was it really that no one really cared?

"So okay... Maybe Kakashi cared a bit." Sasuke hates to admit it. For some reason he can't look Itachi in the face now. "Or maybe even it's more than a little, because he told me not to follow you. He told me to forget... And there is Sakura, who despite of being irritating and annoying sometimes, did take care of me in the hospital and also tried to stop me and..." Not being able to say anything more, he falls into silence.

Itachi does not respond to his words – not a surprise here – so Sasuke glances at Itachi curiously.

The older Uchiha is just sitting there, not moving. The expression on his face is completely unreadable, but there is something about the way he's sitting and tilting his head that tells Sasuke that Itachi is listening to him intently and waiting for him to say what should be said.

"But it's not like _he_ would care," Sasuke finally utters. "He's always so loud, overly energetic and – to put it simply – he's one of the biggest idiots in the world and..." Sasuke's voice breaks all of sudden. "Despite the fact that I tried to kill him, he called me a friend and his brother..."

Filled with despair, he doesn't even realize that he's on the verge of crying. A single tear flows down his face and falls down, wetting his hand. Surprised he looks at it, realizing that for all this time he's been clutching his fists so tightly that his knuckles have whitened. With some effort he loosens his grip.

"But for all this time he hasn't stopped to look for me, hoping that one day I'll be back..."

He looks up and blinks in surprise when he sees his brother's concerned face just a few inches from his own. Somehow he failed to notice when Itachi moved from that branch. Sasuke smiles bitterly and tries to fight back the tears filling his eyes as he doesn't want Itachi to see him crying like that. Finally he hangs his head again.

"If I found him... and talked to him..." he whispers, "do you think that he'd forgive me?"

Itachi doesn't answer. Finally, being tired of that awkward silence, Sasuke darts Itachi a curious glance and his eyes widen in surprise when he sees his face.

Itachi is smiling. He's smiling at him with one of these gentle smiles that Sasuke still remembers from the old, good days. He reaches out and Sasuke closes his eyes tightly, expecting to be poked on the forehead again. Nothing like this happens, however; only for a while as short as a blink of the eye it feels as if his hair is being ruffled.

When he finally opens his eyes, Itachi is on the other branch again, clearly intending to leave.

"Wait!" For some reason this cry sounds rather desperate in his own ears. "Is it what you wanted me to realize and say? Is it... what I should do now?" He looks at Itachi expectantly.

Itachi stops and glances at him over his shoulder. As expected he doesn't answer, but once again a gentle smile appears on his face, changing this serious, young man in a boy he was long years ago. Then he turns away, jumps down from the branch and within seconds his silhouette merges with shadows covering the forest.

Sasuke stares at the places in which his brother disappeared. It's not that he actually should expect others to make decisions for him and he definitely should not expect this from his older brother. Especially when said older brother is dead.

Itachi did give him a clue, however. Now it's only up to Sasuke what decision will he make.

He looks up, for a short while focusing his eyes on clouds moving slowly through the sky. Finally a gentle smile curves his lips. He grabs the cloak and jumps down from the branch he's been sitting on.

"You'd better be there when I'm back, you moron," he mumbles and steps into the shadows lying among the trees, heading toward the place that is their temporary base.

"You'd better be there..."

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THE END

**A/N:** Ghost!Itachi belongs to **Shaitanah**.


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